Monteverdi’s greatest opera is an ‘immorality tale’ of power, lust and corruption in Imperial Rome. Nero’s wife, Ottavia, is cast aside in favour of his mistress, Poppea; the philosopher Seneca is rewarded for his temperate and judicious advice by being forced to commit suicide; Poppea’s former lover, Ottone, is blackmailed into an unsuccessful attempt to murder her. And, as the illicit couple gradually emerge with everything they wanted, Monteverdi draws us deeper and deeper into this gripping and disturbing world with some of the most complex and ravishingly beautiful music he ever wrote. The opera will be sung in a new translation by John Warrack.

Monteverdi’s greatest opera is an ‘immorality tale’ of power, lust and corruption in Imperial Rome. Nero’s wife, Ottavia, is cast aside in favour of his mistress, Poppea; the philosopher Seneca is rewarded for his temperate and judicious advice by being forced to commit suicide; Poppea’s former lover, Ottone, is blackmailed into an unsuccessful attempt to murder her. And, as the illicit couple gradually emerge with everything they wanted, Monteverdi draws us deeper and deeper into this gripping and disturbing world with some of the most complex and ravishingly beautiful music he ever wrote. The opera will be sung in a new translation by John Warrack.